A hymn about wisdom (based on Proverbs 1:20ff; 8:1ff, 9:1ff)

Tune:  “Molly Malone”

On the streets of each city
where the ethics aren’t pretty,
Wisdom calls out in the busiest square.
Off’ring insight in detail
(not seafood for retail),
Crying “Wisdom, knowledge, alive, alive-o”.

(Chorus:  Alive, alive-o, etc.)

To the simple, she’s cryin’
“Come, drink of my wine         (sung as "wy-un")
And eat of the bread at the table I’ve set.
Leave ign’rance behind!
Come now, stretch your mind!
Tasting wisdom, knowledge, alive, alive-o”

(Chorus:  Alive, alive-o, etc.)

Copyright:  Bob Faser, 2006
(based on Proverbs 1:20ff: 8:1ff; 9:1ff)

Permission is given to use this hymn in worship, provided that proper acknowledgement of authorship is made.

Hymn: “A travelling man from far-off Ethiopia…” (based on Acts 8:26-40)

A trav’lling man from far-off Ethiopia
offered a ride to Philip on the road.
They rode and talked of ancient Hebrew scriptures
and of the hope  which God’s great love bestowed.
Christ calls the church to build a new community,
including people of each land and race;
all nations, genders, classes, personalities,
all sorts, conditions: Christ extends his grace.

He was a eunuch, broken in his body,

and scorned by many for his injuries.
So shall the church extend its hand in welcome
to all who live with disabilities.
Christ calls the church to build a new community,
including people of each land and race;
all nations, genders, classes, personalities,
all sorts, conditions: Christ extends his grace.

He was a eunuch, could not father children.

Descendants would not share his elder years.
Now may the church include folk of all lifestyles
and share their joys and pains, their hopes and fears.
Christ calls the church to build a new community,
including people of each land and race;
all nations, genders, classes, personalities,
all sorts, conditions: Christ extends his grace.

He was a eunuch, senior court official,

custodian of his nation’s treasury.
The church is also called by Christ to dialogue
with those who work in public policy.
Christ calls the church to build a new community,
including people of each land and race;
all nations, genders, classes, personalities,
all sorts, conditions: Christ extends his grace.

The Ethiopian traveller continued on;

he went rejoicing on his homeward road.
As well, the church is still a people on the way
and still rejoices in the grace of God.
Christ calls the church to build a new community,
including people of each land and race;
all nations, genders, classes, personalities,
all sorts, conditions: Christ extends his grace.

Copyright Robert J. Faser, 2000; tune:  Londonderry Air

A hymn for "boat people"

O God of mercy, at whose call
the ocean waters rise and fall,
protect the people on the sea
who from oppression seek to flee.
O hear us as our prayers we speak
for those who safe asylum seek.

They come from lands where tyrants reign

to seek a refuge from their pain.
They look to us to give them scope
to build a life of peace and hope.
O hear us as our prayers we speak
for those who safe asylum seek.

Yet politicians mock their plight

and commentators whip up fright.
Now let their noise and lies depart:
convert each demagogic heart!
O hear us as our prayers we speak
for those who safe asylum seek.

God bless this nation, “girt by sea”,

with broader hospitality.  
May gen’rous hearts around this land
obey with love your great command.
O hear us as our prayers we speak
for those who safe asylum seek.

Robert J. Faser, 29^th June 2014

Tune:  Melita, 88.88.88

I wrote this hymn in response to news reports of a boat of asylum seekers being in distress off the coast of Christmas Island and of the inaction of the government in response to this tragedy-in-the-making. The inaction of the government is all the more tragic, given the prominence in the current government of politicians who wear their Christian faith on their sleeves.

I wrote it with the hymn “Eternal Father, strong to save ...” (Together in Song, 138) in mind, with the repeated refrain: “O hear us as we cry to Thee / for those in peril on the sea.” As a result, the hymn is written with the tune Melita in mind.

While I write this hymn as a Christian, I’ve deliberately written it as a hymn that can be sung with integrity by Christians, Jews, Muslims, and other people of faith.

This hymn is available free-of-charge to any congregation, denomination, ecumenical gathering, or interfaith gathering who wishes to use it in worship, particularly in a service focusing on our response as people of faith to asylum seekers.

“If we should speak in languages exotic ...” (a hymn, based on 1st Corinthians 13)

If we should speak in languages exotic,
or else ecstatically with angels’ speech,
yet have no love, our wisest words are futile
as noisy as a shrill metallic screech.
Refrain
Love never ends.  It lasts beyond all language.
Love never ends.  It lasts beyond all skill.
With faith and hope abiding through the ages,
yet of these three, love is the greatest still.

For love is kind and patient, never boastful,

not rude nor arrogant; and won’t deceive;
rejoices in the truth, and not in falsehood:
all things to bear, endure, hope, and believe.
Refrain
Love never ends.  It lasts beyond all language.
Love never ends.  It lasts beyond all skill.
With faith and hope abiding through the ages,
yet of these three, love is the greatest still.

For as a child, my thoughts and deeds were childish,

as an adult, my reasoning has grown.
So with God’s love, we’ll grow into Christ’s likeness
and we can know, as also we were known.
Refrain
Love never ends.  It lasts beyond all language.
Love never ends.  It lasts beyond all skill.
With faith and hope abiding through the ages,
yet of these three, love is the greatest still.

Robert J. Faser, based on 1st Corinthians 13

(Tune:   Londonderry Air)

 

Permission is given to use this hymn in worship in  local congregations or other worshipping groups, provided appropriate acknowledgement is given.

Sunday morning at St. Mungo's: the Musical

This is a brief comic musical (10-15 minutes) that is suitable as an item in a concert for a local congregation. 

It requires a narrator, a small choir, and an accompanist on piano or keyboard.  The choir doesn't need to be a professional choir, such as those who make world tours based from Vienna, Cambridge, or Salt Lake City.  A small group of people who can carry a tune, and who have a sense of humour would be excellent.  (Much of the humour in this is based on the choir making improvised visual responses to whatever is going on, as well as in occasionally miming the words to the hymn parodies.)

"St. Mungo's" is a fictional congregation.  (There really was a St. Mungo.  He's the patron saint of the city of Glasgow ... the one in Scotland, not the one in Montana.  The name is funny though.)  "St. Mungo's" is one of my collection of funny church names, along with "The First Corinthian Free-for-all Triple-Immersion Revival Church (Inc.)" and "Our Lady of Perpetual Fund-Raising". 

My permission is given for you to use this musical in your local setting.  Please make the following note in your programme "Copyright 2013, Bob Faser.  Used by permission."

By the way, any bits [in square brackets and italicised] are directions to the performers and should not be read.

And now, here it is  ...  "Sunday Morning at St. Mungo's:  the Musical".

***

NARRATOR:    Welcome to St. Mungo's Uniting Church in the community of Wobbly Bridge, Tasmania. (1)   Sunday morning worship is about to start.  The minister (2) is robing up.  The organist is having a quick pre-service cigarette out behind the vestry.  The Praise Band is warming up, and the people who stand in the foyer talking until the Praise Band has finished their gig are still catching up with each other.  Let's leave the crowds in the foyer and join in some of the singing with the Praise Band and their supporters.

CHOIR:  (singing, to the tune of MAJESTY, by Jack Hayford):

Choruses!  They're singing choruses.
They are senseless, repetitious, and a bore.
Choruses, we can't stand choruses.
Humour our whims.  Let's sing some hymns once more.
It's time for alarm when I see an arm
waving near my head.
Song leader says, "Stand.  Let's all join hands."
I turn bright red.
Choruses!  Please no more choruses.
Humour our whims.  Let's sing some hymns once more.

NARRATOR:   And, of course, whenever you sing a chorus like this, you're required to sing it through at least twice.

CHOIR:

Choruses!  They're singing choruses.
They are senseless, repetitious, and a bore.
Choruses, we can't stand choruses.
Humour our whims.  Let's sing some hymns once more.
It's time for alarm when I see an arm
waving near my head.
Song leader says, "Stand.  Let's all join hands."
I turn bright red.
Choruses!  Please no more choruses.
Humour our whims.  Let's sing some hymns once more.

NARRATOR:    And, in addition to these "choruses" and "worship songs", there may be one or two songs tossed in for the sake of those worshippers who may be "Baby Boomers".  They're called "folk hymns".  These were the songs that emerged in the Catholic Church in the years after the Second Vatican Council.  These songs were pretty good.  The only problem was that some copyright issues developed with some of these songs, and there were some messy lawsuits.  Ironically, the messiest lawsuit involved a song with the title "And they'll know we are Christians by our love".

CHOIR:  (Singing, to the tune of "And they'll know we are Christians by our love", by Peter Scholtes)

Oh, Saint Pat's has a folk Mass every Saturday night.
The homily's short and the singing is bright.
A lawyer in the back row's taking notes with delight.
So be sure that you get the copyright right.
Oh be sure that you get the copyright right.

NARRATOR:   And now a few things are changing. 

The organist arrives in the organ loft after his pre-service cigarette. 

The minister is robed up and arrives in the chancel. 

And as far as the people who were hanging around in the foyer waiting for the Praise Band to stop are concerned, they wind up their conversations and enter the service. 

The organist begins the prelude.  [Accompanist plays a few bars of Bach's Sheep shall safely graze.] 

And the Praise Band decides to head off to the service at the Assembly of God to check out the band there.  ...

For the early part of the service, the minister has chosen a Taize chant to go with the prayers.  ... Now, a Taize chant is a bit like a chorus, only using music. Occasionally, Taize chants are in Latin, which presents a few issues. 

People who don't like Taize chants say things such as "It's in Latin, isn't that [horrified] Catholic?"  ... or "It's in Latin, isn't that [horrified] New Age?" ... or "It's in Latin; aren't we supposed to dumb things down for the sake of [solemnly and with reverence] OUTREACH?"  ...

Meanwhile, those who like Taize chants will say things like "It's in Latin [rubbing hands together with enthusiasm]; aren't we intelligent, aren't we sophisticated; aren't we ecumenical?"  ...

This Taize chant was written by a new member of the Taize community.  His high school Latin was a bit rusty, but he was very enthusiastic.  His superiors at Taize decided to publish it to encourage him and thought that no congregation would ever really use it.  But they don't know St. Mungo's.

CHOIR:  (Singing, to the tune of "Ubi Caritas", by the Taize Community):

Bona fide.  De facto.
Et cetera.  Ad nauseam.

[Repeat this multiple times, in the way a Taize chant is repeated multiple times.  Members of the choir should start to look tired.  Some should yawn and sit down, and drop off to sleep, with the accompanist and narrator seeming oblivious to this.  Eventually, only one choir member is awake and singing a solo, while the other choir members are snoring.  This choir member is trying to catch the attention of the accompanist so that the music can cease.  Eventually, the accompanist notices this, and brings the music to a close.]

NARRATOR:      And then, the children's talk takes place, and the minister fields a few thorny questions about "Who made God?"  The kids go off to their activities.  [Accompanist plays a few bars of "Jesus loves me, this I know."]

After this we have some lessons from scripture.  [Accompanist plays a few bars of Gershwin's "It ain't necessarily so."]

The lessons are followed by the sermon.  [Accompanist plays a few bars of Brahms's Lullaby.]

Associated with the sermon, there will be a few traditional-style hymns.  Traditional-style hymns are what gives the music of the service its theological bite and, of course, one person's "theological bite" is the next person's "heresy".

If, for example, the minister uses the sermon to give the congregation a guilt trip about something, "God gives us a future" is the preferred hymn to sing with the sermon.  [Accompanist plays a few bars of "God gives us a future".]

If, on the other hand, the minister is trying to apologise for the previous week's guilt trip, the hymn associated with the sermon could be "God is love, let heaven adore him", "There's a wideness in God's mercy", or "Come as you are".  [Accompanist plays a few bars of one of these.]

But then, if the minister's sermon indicates some level of disagreement with one of the Scripture lessons, whether it's a more "progressive" minister disagreeing with something Paul said or a more "conservative" minister disagreeing with something Jesus said, nothing beats "We limit not the truth of God".  [Accompanist plays a few bars thereof.]

Moving on, then it's time for the prayers of intercession.  [Accompanist plays a few bars of Janis Joplin's "Oh, Lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?"]

The  notices follow.  [Accompanist plays a few bars of "Rock-a-bye, baby".]

And then there's the offering.  [Accompanist plays a few bars of ABBA's "Money, money, money".]

The children return to tell the congregation what they did during their activities [Accompanist plays a few bars of "Jesus loves the little children".]  giving the minster another unsuccessful shot at "Who made God".

And then it's time for the final hymn.  Now, in recent months, a number of members of the congregation have been heard telling their friends in other churches, [in a whiny, complaining voice] "Oh, our music is dreadful at St. Mungo's.  If it's not that modern rubbish, it's all highbrow stuff."  So, the minister and elders decided to end each service with something that was obviously neither "modern" nor "highbrow" ... in other words, a "gospel hymn". ... 

While gospel hymns arose in the more "religious" sort of churches, they are also popular among many members of churches like St. Mungo's, churches where the words of the hymns don't always reflect the beliefs of the worshippers.  Part of the reason for this, I believe, is that it brings back childhood memories of visiting elderly relatives who were people of a plain-spoken, pietist faith, and who were warm, generous, hospitable, kindly people ... even if they did believe in the total depravity of humanity and the eternal damnation of the unregenerate, among whose  number they would have considered most of today's members of St. Mungo's.

And, by the way, the Praise Band has returned from checking out the band at the AOG.  So the pipe organ will be joined by electric guitar, electric bass, and a full drum kit for this final hymn.  Isn't it exciting?  Isn't it ecumenical?

CHOIR:   (singing, to the tune of "To God be the glory" by Fanny Crosby):

My auntie's "religious".  She's been so for years.
At her church there are many like-minded old dears.
They sing gospel hymns to the tunes Sankey set.
The tunes you'll remember.  The words you'll forget.

The refrain!  The refrain!  How it pounds in my ear!
Numbs the brain!  Numbs the brain!  And it drives me to tears!
It's time for decision; it's your chance to choose
no dancing, no movies, no make-up, no booze!

And so we continue for three or so verses,
while under my breath I am mumbling curses,
and (just as my stamina's starting to falter)
we sing it again as we're called to the altar.

The refrain!  The refrain!  How it pounds in my ear!
Numbs the brain!  Numbs the brain!  And it drives me to tears!
It's time for decision; it's your chance to choose
no dancing, no movies, no make-up, no booze!

NARRATOR:    And now it's time for the Benediction, and following the Benediction, the congregation sings once more, this time holding hands.  (The elders still haven't got around to reading the denomination's paper on avoiding sexual harassment in the congregation.)  But, don't worry, we won't ask you to hold hands.  (I've read the harassment paper.)  But, anyway, good night and may the Ground of All Being bless you all real good.

CHOIR:   (singing, to the tune of "Now unto him" as found in Scripture in Song.)

Now, it is time, it is time to go home.
The service is finally over.
Home to watch the football, or mow the lawn, or eat our lunch
with exceeding joy.
And at night we'll watch an ABC drama
or something on SBS.  (3)
While eating some pizza  (4)
or Chinese takeaway.
Ah .... men.

***

NOTES

(1)  In performance, please feel free to make St. Mungo's a congregation of whichever denomination your congregation is part.  Also, you may locate Wobbly Bridge in whichever state, province, or county you find yourselves.

(2)  In performance, please feel free to refer to the minister by whatever term you use to describe the minister (rector, vicar, parish priest, pastor ...) in your congregation, and to adapt any other bits of denominational jargon.

(3)  These are the words for use in Australia.  In the US, it could be "And at night we'll watch the History Channel / or something on PBS."  In the UK, it could be "And at night we'll watch a BBC drama / or something on Channel Four."   (Etc.)   The choice of TV viewing reflects the middle-class nature of a congregation such as St. Mungo's.

(4)  Eating "some pizza" may work in most of the world.  On the west coast of the United States, or in the Southwest, this may be eating "some tacos".  In the UK, this could be eating "a curry".  Anywhere else, this could be whatever happens to be the popular takeaway food in your area.

A hymn for the Christmas Bowl appeal

 

An empty bowl, uplifted hands:
a challenge here we see,
to share with neighbours in all lands
our one humanity.

An empty bowl, uplifted hands:
may our commitment be
that peace and justice in all lands
shall be reality.

An empty bowl, uplifted hands:
to set the captives free
and joining people in all lands
in one community,

A cup of wine, uplifted hands:
O Christ, lead us to be
your body broken for all lands,
now and eternally!

Robert J. Faser, 1996, tunes: Winchester Old, TiS 299; Bangor, TiS 515ii

I wrote this hymn for the Christmas Bowl appeal (an appeal related to Act for Peace, the overseas aid agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia).  It has frequently appeared in the promotional kit for the Christmas Bowl from the time I wrote it in the mid-1990s until the present.  It uses the image of the Christmas Bowl logo (as seen in this link to the Christmas Bowl website) to speak of the work of the Christmas Bowl in promoting peace, justice, compassion, human rights, and a broader sense of global community.  The final verse seeks to link the Christmas Bowl to the Eucharistic heart of our Christian spirituality.

I originally had Bangor in mind as the tune for this hymn, but I thank Peter Weeks for the inspired suggestion of using Winchester Old ("While shepherds watched their flocks by night ...") as the tune for this hymn.  Winchester Old is now my preferred tune for this hymn.

A hymn about diversity

This hymn is set to the tune Grand Isle (AHB 551). The rhythm of the words is very irregular. I tried to keep the playfulness of the earlier hymn associated with this tune, the classic children’s hymn “I sing a song of the saints of God …”.

This hymn probably won’t suit every worshipping congregation, but it’s offered with joy to those who can use it.

Let’s sing a new song of the people of God,
who are found all around the earth.
All are diverse, and each is unique,
and all are of priceless worth.
And some are Irish, and some are Dutch,
with Maori, Koori, Cherokee, and such --
none is remote from God’s sacred touch.
All people can know God’s love.

Some worship God with ancient words,
with icons and incense and bells.
Others clap their hands to drums and guitars,
but each of God’s mercy tells.
And some are Uniting, and some R.C.,
Anglican, Orthodox, or A.C.C. *
With unity in diversity,
all people can know God’s love.

They all pray to God using different names,
and the one God hears them all.
With different traditions and paths of faith,
each seeks to heed God’s call.
And some are Christians, and some are Jews,
some are Muslims, and some Hindus,
some are Buddhists or Sikhs -- still the Spirit will choose
all people to know God’s love.

Their household patterns and family styles
will not always look the same.
Though we can’t understand all ways of life,
it’s not our place to blame.
And some are lesbians, and some are gay,
some are straight, some follow a celibate way.
If it’s loving and faithful, still we can say
all people can know God’s love.

With different talents and gifts and skills,
all can from each other learn.
All sorts and conditions of human life
are blessed by our God’s concern.
Some are deaf, some are fat, and some are blind.
If you’re bald or left-handed you won’t be left behind.
God is loving and merciful, generous and kind.
All people can know God’s love.

Copyright: Robert J. Faser, 1996, with various revisions, this version 2013. (May be used in worship with acknowledgement.)


  * This is the Australian version of this verse. (ACC stands for “Australian Christian Churches”, a Pentecostal denomination.) Other versions can be used elsewhere, i.e.:

In the United States:
And some are Lutheran, and some RC,
AME Zion or UCC.

In England:

And some are Methodist, and some RC,
United Reformed, or C of E.

If you can can come up with words for your context, please share them.

Do we have a future?: a hymn parody

This is more of a hymn parody than a hymn.  It’s based on Elizabeth Smith’s hymn “God gives us a future …” (TiS 687) and, if it’s ever sung, was written for the tune "Camberwell", which is used for Dr. Smith’s hymn. 

The first verse is about all the “experts” and “gurus” within the churches who have made lucrative careers for themselves in declaring the self-fulfilling prophecy that mainstream Christian churches have a short life expectancy. 

The second verse is about the “fresh expressions” and “missional” gimmicks that churches try as a response to the gloom of the “gurus”.

The third verse is about the way that some local church leaders (ordained and lay) try to achieve an artificial consensus for their “fresh expressions” by trivialising those within the church who have different views.

In the fourth verse, this parody becomes a hymn and affirms that, by being the people of God in the present, we have a future.

“We don’t have a future!”

all the “experts” say.
All the mainstream churches
will soon fade away.
Solemn commentators
hurl sarcastic jeers
that we won’t survive
another twenty years.

Find a “fresh expression”

(feels like change, yet bland)
like a café service
or a loud praise band.
Move the Sunday service
over to the hall.
Everything’s projected
on a screen or wall.

And, if some raise questions,

say their faith is weak.
Question their commitment
to the goals we seek.
Alternate suggestions?
Always shrug them off
like a case of hiccups
or a ticklish cough.

Still we have a future!

Even now we see
Bread, and wine, and water,
Scripture, liturgy,
serving God and neighbour
(heart, and strength, and mind).
Living in God’s present,
we’ll God’s future find.

"Peter's Dream": a hymn

While Peter dreamed, he saw a blanket filled with food:
from most his conscience caused him to abstain.
God’s voice called, “Eat!”; and after Peter’s “No!” replied:
“What God has cleansed, you must not call profane!”
 And still Christ calls to us, to all God’s people,
to view God’s world with love, and not disdain;
to celebrate the wonders of God’s universe:
"What God has cleansed, you must not call profane!”

Throughout the centuries, the Church has often failed

to put these words to practice, to great pain;
in many ways forgetting God’s clear mandate:
“What God has cleansed, you must not call profane!”
And still Christ calls to us, to all God’s people,
to view God’s world with love, and not disdain;
to celebrate the wonders of God’s universe:
“What God has cleansed, you must not call profane!”
 
So now the Church is often seeking to renew
its life together, struggling to obtain
the broader view of life to which Christ calls us:
“What God has cleansed, you must not call profane!”
And still Christ calls to us, to all God’s people,
to view God’s world with love, and not disdain;
to celebrate the wonders of God’s universe:
“What God has cleansed, you must not call profane!”

And in the future, Christ will still be calling

all Christian folk to share that glad refrain,
sharing God’s love for all life in this universe:
“What God has cleansed, you must not call profane!”
And still Christ calls to us, to all God’s people,
to view God’s world with love, and not disdain;
to celebrate the wonders of God’s universe:
“What God has cleansed, you must not call profane!”

Copyright Ó Robert J. Faser, 1999

tune:    Londonderry Air

 
Some years ago, I had the idea of a series of hymns based on the passages from the Book of Acts read during the season from Easter to Pentecost.  So far, I have written two of these hymns, both to the Irish folk tune Londonderry Air. 

Songs for Singing (2009) has a hymn arrangement for Londonderry Air written by John McRae for this hymn.

Also, hymn arrangements for Londonderry Air can be found in British Methodist hymnbooks for the hymn “I cannot tell why he, whom angels worship …” (no. 238 in Hymns and Psalms), and in John Bell and Graham Maule’s When Grief is Raw, for the hymn “Go, silent friend . . .”.

This hymn is based on the story of Peter’s dream (Acts 10: 9 –16, repeated later in Acts).  Peter's dream is part of the lessons on the fifth Sunday of Easter in Year C of the Ecumenical Lectionary.

 

Traditionally, this passage has been used as a reason to explain why Christians do not follow the Jewish dietary laws,despite Christianity’s grounding in Judaism.  I see much more in this passage, however, than mere permission for Christians to eat a ham sandwich.  I see this passage as God’s call to us to practice a “Christian Humanism”, affirming all life as within the scope ofGod’s love and concern.

A hymn about Pontius Pilate (for Holy Week)

Pilate (man of force and power)
Caesar’s man in Palestine,
sent his troops to kill the people
while they worshipped at their shrine.
God of justice, grant our leaders
mercy and humanity.
Guide the people of all nations
into true community.

Pilate (man of pedant’s question),

bully in philosopher’s mask,
toyed and bantered with his captive,
“What is truth?” he’d glibly ask.
God of justice, grant our leaders
mercy and humanity.
Guide the people of all nations
into true community.

Pilate (man of cynic’s symbol),

washed his hands in public place,
shifting blame for Jesus’ murder
to the elders of Christ’s race.
God of justice, grant our leaders
mercy and humanity.
Guide the people of all nations
into true community.

Pilate (man of law and order),

no “bleeding-heart”, a tough judge he,
coolly gave the cruel sentence:
“Send this Jew to Calvary!”
God of justice, grant our leaders
mercy and humanity.
Guide the people of all nations
into true community.

Pilate (man of fearful nightmares,

guilty spirit, troubled brain)
plunged into the Alpine waters,
seeking silence thus to gain.
God of justice, grant our leaders
mercy and humanity.
Guide the people of all nations
into true community.

Copyright, Robert J. Faser, 2002

Tune:  “Ebenezer”

Notes:

This hymn reflects on a number of references to Pontius Pilate in the Gospels, as well as an ancient Christian legend about Pilate’s suicide.  There is a refrain at the end of each verse in which we pray for those who govern us and for the nations of the world.

Vs. 1:  Luke 13:1.  I base much of my assessment of Pilate’s character on this single, rather unguarded, comment in Luke’s Gospel, as opposed to the (in my opinion) more deliberately nuanced accounts in the passion narratives.  

Vs. 2    John 18:33-38.  My assessment of Pilate’s character makes his question “What is truth?” not a comment of an honest searcher, but one of an intellectual thug. 

Vs. 3:  Matthew 27:24.  It would not take a very radical interpretation of the New Testament to realise that, by the time the Gospels were written, the Gospel writers were under strong pressure both to minimise the Roman involvement and to maximise the Jewish involvement in Jesus’ death.

Vs. 4:  Matthew 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38; John 19:19.  The inscription on Jesus’ cross about him being “the King of the Jews” gives support to the idea that Jesus was condemned by a Gentile governor as “a dangerous Jew”.      

Vs. 5:  There was an early Christian legend that Pontius Pilate committed suicide by drowning himself in Lake Lucerne in what is now Switzerland.

Preferred tune:                       This hymn is written in the metre of 8.7.8.7.D.  Looking at some of the available tunes, many are inappropriate for the subject matter: 

• “Abbots Leigh” and “Hyfrydol” are both far too “pretty” for Pilate.
• “Austria” and “Ode to Joy” are too celebrative.  (As well, the historical link of “Austria” with “Deutschland Über Alles” makes the use of this tune rather forced, given the subject matter.)
• “Converse” and “Blaenwern” are too sentimental.  
• “Ebenezer” seems to be an appropriately solemn (and “hairy-chested”) tune for a hymn about Pilate.

 

 

A eucharistic hymn

Bread sustains our human bodies,
keeps our mortal flesh alive.
Sharing bread, we can empow’r our
global neighbours to survive.
Round your table, God, we gather
your new life to recognise.
Teach us always how to view your
world with eucharistic eyes.

Wine enables celebration,

calling us to jubilee,
changing eating into dining,
building close community.
Round your table, God, we gather
your new life to recognise.
Teach us always how to view your
world with eucharistic eyes.

Jesus calls us, as his people,

eucharistic folk to be:
sharing both the bread of struggle
and the wine of unity.
Round your table, God, we gather
your new life to recognise.
Teach us always how to view your
world with eucharistic eyes.

Copyright Ó Robert J. Faser, 2001 (Permission is granted to use this hymn during worship in a local congregation / worshipping group, provided that acknowledgement is made.)

Tunes:        Ode to Joy (TiS 152), Abbot’s Leigh (TiS 153)

In this eucharistic hymn, I begin with the everyday uses of bread and of wine as the starting-point for my reflection on the eucharist, noting that (at the holiest moment of our worship) the Christian church is a community of people who shares food.

For most of us, bread, as a staple food, is a sign of survival.  Sharing bread is a sign of sharing the basics of survival.  Sharing bread in the context of worship declares that we are a community that affirms an intimate connection between our worship of God and our sharing with our neighbour; whether the neighbours are nearby or far away.

For many of us, wine is associated with our times of celebration, and with the occasions in which we build community.  Sharing wine in the context of worship declares that we are a community that affirms an intimate connection between our worship of God and our life together.